(Not) Waiting to Exhale
by Beckon
Summary: She had accompanied him into the depths of the Netherrealm again and again and again. (Minor AU).


Kitana felt her heart thundering away in her chest as she stared at the elegant building before her.

The Shirai Ryu temple, as difficult as it was to locate, was, without a doubt, a breath-taking sight. She had been to the temple plenty of times before, and each time she still found herself in awe of its presence. It was like a lost artifact from a different time- or from a different realm completely. It was built by the hands of dedicated warriors and craftsmen, and every bit of pride they put into their work was etched into every single piece of the temple.

Sometimes it felt as though only those few, privileged, fighters were allowed to gaze upon it- to be graced by the roaring fires that lined the entrance walkway. This was not a place for any mere mortal, or any commoner to stumble upon. No, it almost felt as though one had to earn their right to be here- even if just to look.

So, by all means, she should be grateful that she could stand here before the temple and drown in her utter admiration for it.

But she wasn't.

She didn't feel any of that power or pride that came with just standing before it; she didn't feel dignified to be here, or feel energized and inspired by its majestic archways and courtyards.

Not this time.

...

No, this time it felt painful.

Her chest thundered hollowly at the realization that there was no warm welcome waiting for her here.

No kiss at the bottom of the grand staircase.

No one to carry her through the open archways in eager arms and with a laughing smile.

...

Of all the times she had been here before, it had never once been for business- at least not Special Forces' type business. It was always more for recreation and meditation, or at least that's what she told people when they asked unnecessary questions.

But those times were behind her, at least for the present.

Right now, General Blade needed her assistance and she would be damned if she disappointed her. Sonya had done a lot for her- risking both her professional and personal reputation to do so, and never once complaining about it. Not many people wanted much to do with the Revenant; in fact, many of them had been shunned despite never having control over what had happened to them.

Her mother, Sindel, had taken a brunt of the hardship; but as she always did, she carried herself forward with grace.

Even Kung Lao and Lui Kang, the pride and joys of their family, had been blacklisted and exiled. But neither man allowed for such news to deter them; they picked themselves back up and joined the war once more- this time fighting for the right side. It helped that they had one family member, Kung Jin, who stuck loyally at their sides.

Stryker and Kabal seemed to be the only ones who managed to stay out of public notice. Only those who were a part of the Special Forces knew about their Revenant behaviors. Sonya admitted that she had erased their names from any public reports on the Revenants- especially given Stryker's heroic status amongst the New York City civilians; she didn't want to ruin his reputation.

Kitana felt a great deal of admiration for the General, who had kept them together post-revival and made sure they got the help they needed; she had even bonded with her over the passing months. As it would turn out, they had a lot more in common than they thought.

And while she was here for more... personal reasons, she kept the General in the back of her mind.

She couldn't disappoint herself with failure, at least not anymore than she already had, but she certainly wouldn't disappoint Sonya.

Kitana knew all about maintaining alliances and keeping all of the different factions moving forward together; and more importantly, she knew how to make sure that everyone worked well enough with one another. They didn't have to be friends, but being allies was a good start for anyone. The job wasn't easy, and often times the balancing act frustrated her to no end, but... it had to be done.

And if there was someone who was going to do it, it was going to be her.

She was the Edenian Princess after all... at least, when the realm of Edenia was restored, she would be.

"I wish you the best of luck."

Kitana pulled away from her thoughts at the words, and looked over to the young man next to her. He seemed just as nervous as she was- well, perhaps not nervous, but anxious. It was almost as though he was anticipating something that she wasn't aware of- like he knew something that she didn't about the potential situation ahead of her. But then again, this young man was reportedly Hanzo's apprentice... so perhaps there was something that she was missing.

It didn't help that he was also the blind swordsman, Kenshi's offspring; so perhaps the ability to sense disoriented energy had been passed down from father to son.

Still, she wouldn't let such theories deter her.

"Thank you, although I hope that I will not need it," Kitana spoke, offering a brief smile to him.

Takeda nodded and offered a smile in return, abet a nervous one still. "I uh... I'll be in the archives when you are finished."

He _was_ apprehensive.

"Of course," she replied, before she watched as he started off across the front courtyard and made his way towards one of the separate buildings nearby. She had requested absolute privacy with Master Hanzo, which had never been an issue before. Then again, he never waited three days to acknowledge her request; or in this instance, almost half a month.

She had been lenient with him.

She had told herself again and again that he would answer if not today, then tomorrow for sure. But the days kept coming, and she couldn't keep pushing the matter off. And if it meant coming down here on her own accord, then so be it.

Hell hath no fury like an Edenian storm.

Taking a deep breath, Kitana straightened herself out and walked into the temple alone.

She had a mission to serve here, and she intended to return successful- no matter what she had to do to achieve that.

Kitana knew most of the Shirai Ryu temple like the back of her hand, and she knew where Hanzo stayed most days, so it was easy for her to go from room to room looking for him. But room after room only ended with empty hands as the vacancy of each one began to spread a cold chill across her body. It was difficult to not get worked up over the situation as she continued to hunt for him throughout the temple, but she did.

It began with more leniency, more denial.

And then it turned into her hands shaking as she tore her way through each of the meditative rooms.

...

He knew that she would come for him.

And he was actively avoiding her.

"Princess Kitana, please, Grandmaster-"

"Where is he?!" she snapped, as a flick of her wrist and fan threw the small group of Shirai Ryu guards against the nearest wall- pinning them there for however long she desired. She knew her presence here would not go unnoticed for long, but she was still searching and she would not have _anyone_ getting in her way. "I have important business I wish _\- I need-_ to discuss with Grandmaster Hanzo."

Hanzo personally trained every single one of his clan members, making sure that each one would fight to the death with honor. She had personally seen the Shirai Ryu army waste no time in reducing a war battle to slaughtered bodies in a matter of seconds.

And yet, these men were powerless against her magic, and paled considerably at her voice.

"Grandmaster Hanzo has requested solitude; he does not wish to be bothered."

Kitana felt her energy flare up at the remark, and had to restrain herself from throwing the guards into the opposite wall.

Quan Chi's sorcery had corrupted her for twenty-five years, and it would take her just as long to work off the lasting effects that lingered in her soul. She still struggled with it from time to time; the corruption made her own energy unstable and made it increasingly difficult to control under certain circumstances.

Especially this one.

But she fought to keep it tame this time, and dropped her fan back to her side- dropping the guards to the floor as well. Her body was still fragile and healing; she couldn't risk stressing herself further.

"Then he will have to make an exception- and he will _deal_ with it," she spat, as she continued past the nervous group and continued on her way.

She was supposed to be an acting diplomat; she was supposed to be handling incidents like this with grace and understanding. The last thing she needed to be doing was storming through the temple, and hurting the warriors who swore their lives to protect it.

... But she couldn't commit.

She wanted to see him.

She needed to ask him why he would leave- and not only leave the Special Forces, but why he would leave her as well. He had left her before and swore he would never do it again, and yet... that promise apparently meant nothing to him.

She did not like people lying to her; she told herself that she would not be a victim any longer. And if she had to beat the answer out of him, then she would. Because no amount of spilt blood would make up for the kind of pain she was in right now.

No one was allowed to hurt her.

At the very least, after an outburst like that, no other clan member tried to get in her way. If anything, they tried to avoid her just as their Grandmaster did.

Kitana briefly mused if Takeda was beginning to regret escorting her here.

...

She found him meditating in the back courtyard.

Or perhaps he was just giving off the impression that he was meditating; a simple ruse that any commoner would fall for. She had half a mind to land her heel in the back of his head for forcing her hand and making her travel out here with the aid of his prodigy- for sending her on such a useless chase. Her health was waning and unstable as it was, she didn't need the additional stress he was giving her.

And to come all this way only to go without a smile and kiss at the door... unthinkable.

A month's time of departure, and he had nothing for her.

"Considering that my orders were for solitary, I can only assume you disregarded my clan's words."

Kitana frowned at his lackluster acknowledgement of her, but forced herself to reconsider her current thought process. She wasn't here to make enemies with him; she needed him to come back with her- willingly. "You know why I'm here, Hanzo, so you know why I had to get desperate and threaten your men to leave me alone."

A long sigh escaped him as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. "And you know why I had to leave, so you know why you are only wasting your time here."

"Earthrealm needs you."

"It does not," Hanzo corrected.

Kitana bit her tongue and watched as he made his way into the connecting building. He never once looked back to her; it was almost as though he refused to believe that she was even there in the first place. But she did not come all this way to be ignored- no one was allowed to ignore her. She followed after him, much to his dismay, and ducked into the building before the door had a chance to close behind him.

"Are you willing to allow Earthrealm to fall to Shinnok's influences?" she pressed.

"You are doubting your allies' strengths, Kitana."

"And you are turning your back on them."

Hanzo stopped at her words, as though contemplating the harshness in her tone when she said them. Perhaps she had released more anger than she intended into them, speaking harsher than she ever meant to towards him. But he wasn't helping his case with her, and she wasn't going to take a bullshit answer from him.

Still... it was easy for her to see the tension that pulled across his back and shoulders before he continued moving forward.

"It is best that I turn my back on them rather than risk killing them," he continued.

"You pose no threat to us," Kitana reminded, before she watched as he stopped a second time- and made quick to do the same. Her eyes fell to the motion of his hands as he clenched them together now, perhaps in an attempt to stop them from shaking.

It was only then she realized that hers had stopped.

She had been so angry with him, and yet now...

When he spoke next, he still refused to turn around and look at her. It was almost as though he was now desperate to forget that she was even there at all.

"I destroy everything I touch."

His voice was rough and briefly shook with the words that seemingly clawed their way out of his throat.

And somehow, with those five words, she knew exactly what was holding him back.

"I cannot control this anger, this... Hell-spawn vengeance that flares its ugly face from time to time. It has saved my life countless times before, I admit that much, and yet... it has destroyed everything just the same," Hanzo continued. "I cannot risk it getting out and hurting anyone else. Not again."

A quiet sigh escaped her as she understood him well enough to know.

And it hurt to come to that realization.

Twenty-five years ago, they served together under Quan Chi's control.

They found balance in one another in such a cruel, corrupted place- or at least that was what she now told herself to offset the impending guilt. In reality, they were both gifted warriors; they both fought and blindly served the Sorcerer because they had no other choice or control. They bonded over meaningly violence and the open thoughts of slaughtering their former allies.

She had accompanied him into the depths of Hell again and again and again.

Even now, she could still feel how the burning heat of his touch had scorched her skin; she had nightmares and memories of his hands pulling at her body and cradling it against his.

...

He was freed before his sentence even began.

But she wasn't.

And even though she was dead, and corrupted, it still hurt to see him standing against her. She still remembered the raw anger that had consumed her when she realized that he had been taken. To her, it was just another betrayal by the same people that she had trusted so many years ago. She blamed Raiden and his small band of fighters for ruining her life further- for taking what little piece of happiness and comfort she had left. As if she hadn't suffered enough, now they wanted her to suffer alone.

Even now, she felt her stomach drop at the sickening memory of it.

...

Three months ago, however, she finally got her freedom.

And he greeted her with a smile and nervous anticipation; he later admitted that he was scared about whether or not she remembered the time they had shared while trapped in the Netherrealm. She had, and she wasted no time in picking up exactly where they had left off. And it was as though nothing had changed between them. The only difference now was that they were in full control of their actions, and they worked with their own thoughts and emotions... And perhaps that's what made them stronger, more bonded to one another.

And yet, the fact remained that he had nearly ruined it.

"... You cannot blame yourself for things you couldn't control," Kitana started, as she stepped towards Hanzo and briefly reached out to him, before she stopped. Her fingers lingered emptily in the air, before she slowly pulled them back- somehow seeing that they would provide no sense of comfort to him right now. He wouldn't even look at her; she highly doubted he wanted to be touched by her.

"Because of my anger, I nearly destroyed you and the rest of the Revenants," he interrupted. "If I hadn't been stopped from killing Quan Chi... then we never would've gotten any of you back."

Kitana kept her silence, unsure if she could argue with him at this point.

... Because he was right.

If he had been successful in killing Quan Chi... none of the remaining Revenants, herself included, would've been freed. They would all still be stuck under the sorcerer's control- living out their lives trapped in the Netherrealm with no hope of returning home.

The fact of the matter was that he wasn't successful; he never accomplished killing the sorcerer.

Quan Chi had succeeded in releasing the fallen God, Shinnok, from the Medallion. Together, the two destroyed a majority of the Special Forces base, as well as killed most of the on-site soldiers, before they set their sights of the Jinsei Temple. However, they underestimated the General's strength and perseverance before their departure. Not only did Sonya dispatch of D'Vorah with ease, but she, along with Kenshi, managed to break Quan Chi's hold on the Revenant long enough for Raiden to reverse the effect and free them.

The two suffer grievous wounds, courtesy of Shinnok, for their efforts, but thankfully both survived.

Shinnok went on to successfully corrupt Raiden's Jinsei Temple, but had ultimately been defeated by the forces on-hand. However, both he and Quan Chi were able to retreat back into the Netherrealm before anyone could stop them, or finish the job.

Raiden was able to cease the corruption for the time being, at the risk of his own health, but... Earthrealm was still vulnerable to attack.

And there was no telling what kind of army Shinnok was creating to fight back at them with.

Hence why they needed every fighter possible.

Hence why she needed him to come back with her.

"Look around you, that time has passed on; you are wasting yourself with thinkings of the past that no longer effect our future," Kitana started, hoping now that she could successful appeal to him. "We are back, all of us are back, and we need to be fighting for Earthrealm- not with each other."

He remained silent, and she wondered if he was listening to her at all.

She could only imagine how, for the passing three months, the possibilities of all the different outcomes had been eating at him. It was difficult to imagine the kind of guilt he was carrying with him for something he wanted, but didn't do.

"Please, I cannot stand to fight you- not again."

"... While Quan Chi lives, so will Scorpion."

Kitana shivered at the sense of self-betrayal in his voice; it made her sick to realize just how hurt he was. "And so will our Revenant halves, so will all the memories of the horrific things that we did while under his control," she spoke. "Hanzo, please... this is our chance to fight back and end the last twenty-five years of our lives. This is our chance to start anew- and I need you to stand with us, to stand with me."

He answered with silence.

And it crushed her.

She finally pushed herself to close the space between them, before she grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around to her. To her surprise, he didn't fight, or even attempt to resist her. She slowly allowed herself to study him, if only for a brief second; she had already well memorized every single one of his features. But it was difficult to see the damage he was doing to himself.

He looked conflicted, exhausted... and above all else, he was suffering.

Still, she couldn't help but to give in to a comforting smile as she moved her hands to cup his broad jaw; her fingers briefly running through his thick beard as she did so. Such a small gesture used to bring her comfort when she needed it most, and she wouldn't allow herself to give it up.

She had fought for so long to be here again, to be at his side.

And every moment that she was, she couldn't help but to feel the swell of pride in her chest.

"You wound me, Hanzo," Kitana whispered, as she traced circles against his cheekbones with her thumbs. "You have suffered long enough... it is time to let it go."

"It is not that easy," he spoke.

"I know it isn't; if anything, it's going to be one of the hardest things to do," she nodded. "I too have lost my family, my home... myself even. It isn't easy, it never is, but... I only ask that you seek to forgive yourself for an action you didn't do. The possibility of what might've happened is scary to consider, but you were stopped, and the rest of us were freed, and we are here now. I hold no ill feelings towards you for that- and if there's anyone you should consider the feelings of, it's me. So, I'll ask you again... will you stand with me?"

He held still beneath her hold and looked as though he was studying her just the same. Perhaps he was desperate to know that everything she was saying was true- that she wasn't simply saying whatever she needed to, to get him back.

But it was the truth- even he could see that.

"If not with me, then stand with Takeda, or Kenshi, or Kuai Liang," Kitana continued. "Someone, anyone, who will-"

"I will stand with you."

She felt herself still at his words, and briefly searched his eyes for confirmation, before a smile found it's way to her once more. "Thank you," she started, as she pulled him forward and pressed her forehead to his. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her skin and gently nuzzled him, brushing her lips against the corner of his. For this moment, all she wanted to do was hold him like this. She wanted him to take her in and feel the heat of her skin on his, and remember the memories he had placed on her body. She wanted him to remember what it was like to be human again, to remember how all the bad was behind them now- and only the good remained ahead. "You believe in a lot of bad about yourself without listening to what others have to say good about you. And while you believe yourself to be this destructive being, I want you to know that... sometimes what you touch creates life instead."

Hanzo shot her a brief look of confusion; the remark coming oddly amongst the situation behind them now.

It prompted her to close the space between their bodies, as she gently pressed herself against him, taking in the full warmth of his body; she watched as the motion only seemed to confuse him further- at least until he glanced downward at the extra presence.

And it was hard to fight back the small tears that came to her as she watched him hesitate, before he slowly brought his hands to her stomach.

His palms fit almost perfectly over the small, growing curve of her stomach.

"You must continue fighting. It is the only way we'll be able to keep Earthrealm safe, and free Edenia from the Outworld merge," Kitana spoke. "You need to protect your home, and I need to reclaim mine... and between our two realms, we will provide a safe haven for this child."


End file.
